When was the last time you used a telephone box? I mean to make an actual phone call--not to shelter from the rain. Ages ago, right? The last time I used a phone box for its intended purpose was... 2006. I was conducting auditions for my play in my tiny old shared house in London. Hoping to impress some talented actors to come and work for me for nothing, I spread some throws over the sofas and lit candles to make it seem a bit more “'young professional”.
你上一次使用电话亭是什么时候？我的意思是打一个真正的电话——不是为了避雨。很久以前，对吧？我最后一次将电话亭用于打电话是......2006年，那时我在伦敦的一间狭小的旧房子里为我的戏剧进行试镜。为了吸引一些有才华的演员来为我无偿工作，我在沙发上铺了一些毯子，点了蜡烛，让它看起来更“年轻专业”。

As I rushed outdoors to empty the wastepaper baskets, the door swung shut behind me. Suddenly I was locked outside. My mobile phone was inside, but luckily there was a telephone box across the street. So, I called Directory Assistance, got put through to our landlady's managing agent, and had a spare key sent to me with just enough time to get back in before the actors arrived.
当我冲到户外清空废纸篓时，门在我身后关上了。突然，我被锁在了屋外，我的手机在屋面，但幸运的是，街对面有一个电话亭。所以，我打电话给服务台，接通了房东太太的代管人，并给我寄了一把备用钥匙，刚好有足够的时间在演员到来之前回到屋里。

As it has been many years since I last used one, I should hardly be surprised that there are no longer any public telephones near my house. The last one standing has just been turned into a “mini community library” any passer-by can “borrow" a book from its shelves, and return it later, or replace it with another title from their own collection.
自从我上次使用电话以来已经很多年了，我家附近不再有公用电话，我不应该感到惊讶。最后一个电话亭刚刚变成了一个“迷你社区图书馆”，任何路人都可以从书架上“借”一本书，然后归还，或者用自己收藏的另一本书替换。

For a few months after the “library" opened, I didn't bother taking a look, as I had assumed that it would be stuffed full of cheesy love stories, Then I noticed folk conducting spring cleans dropping boxes of voluminous books on various subjects there. And these books were free. This unbeatable price-point encouraged me to experiment with dozens of titles that I would never normally consider buying. And I've discovered some great books!
在“图书馆”开放后的几个月里，我没有太在意，因为我以为里面会塞满俗气的爱情故事。然后我注意到进行春季大扫除的人们在那里扔下了大量关于各种主题的书籍。这些书是免费的。这一无与伦比的价格促使我尝试了几十本我通常不会考虑购买的书。我发现了一些很棒的书！

If l ever get trapped outside my house again, my local telephone box will, sadly, no longer be able to connect me with my keys. But it can certainly keep me entertained while I wait for my wife to rescue me.
如果我再次被困在屋外，很遗憾，当地的电话亭将无法再为我接通钥匙。但在我等待妻子救我的时候，它肯定能让我开心。